About Us

Mission Statement

Guitar Showcase
differentiates itself from its competition not only by offering an excellent
value on all of its products and services, but also by endeavoring to exceed
the expectations of every customer by providing the best possible customer
service from start to finish. Guitar
Showcase employees follow a kind of Golden Rule, offering each customer the
same combination of expertise and courtesy that they would expect themselves as
customers.

Guitar Showcase’s
current Company President and CEO is Gary Wineroth, whose involvement in the
music industry dates all the way back to 1965.
After having played in local Bay AreaRock ’n’ Roll Bands, Gary worked with his brother,
Barry Wineroth, and sound guru Steve Lorente promoting rock concerts and working as sound
tech with icons such as Jimi Hendrix, Janice Joplin, Buffalo Springfield, Deep
Purple, Ray Charles, and many others.
Gary, Barry, and Steve also provided music gear to local bands like the
Jaguars, Daddy-O, Syndicate of Sound, The Doobie Brothers, The Grateful Dead,
Tower of Power,and numerous other Bay Area bands, many of
which attained icon status as well.
Today, with over a half a century in the music industry, Gary is
considering a Strategic Acquisition or other M & A possibilities.

Guitar Showcase has
several unique qualities that set it apart from its competition:

First is the legendary “Vintage
Vault”:a separate steel-lined room in which are displayed hundreds of the World’s most sought after vintage and collectible
guitars. It’s like a Rock ’n’Roll Hall of Fame Museum full of guitars and
amps can otherwise usually only be seen in print
or on-line.Visitors to Guitar Showcase know how
inspiring it is to experience these rare and valuable instruments
firsthand. The displays are constantly
changing with the addition of new pieces that continually surface from three
generations of musicians, whose ever-changing styles, lives and fortunes assure a
constant supply of new and exciting guitars and amps—an advantage and unique selling proposition the on-line stores will never enjoy!

Guitar Showcase’s
newly expanded Acoustic Guitar Department is now the largest in California with
a huge selection of the best brands in the industry, including Taylor, Martin,
Gibson, Fender, Guild, Breedlove, Bedell, Yamaha, Ovation, Takamine, Cordoba,
Seagull, Blueridge, Ibanez and others.
Hundreds of new instruments are on display, well as many used and
vintage acoustics.The upper stairway area is surrounded by
dozens ofvintage acoustics that date from the ’30s
and ’40s through the Rock ’n' Roll era, where you will probably find an
example of your ”first guitar”. There
is also an area dedicated to Bluegrass instruments, as well as glass-enclosed
showcases for some extremely rare offerings.

The Acoustic Department
also houses a complete sound stage that currently contains approximately 30
guitars and amps from Steve Miller’s personal collection
that he has used both on stage or in the studio.These collectible gems are personally
hand-signed by Steve, and many are accompanied by a photo of Steve with that
particular instrument as well.The stage is also used to host “Open Mic‘s”,
clinics and performances by visiting celebrities.

The huge Acoustic floor
has three separate areas and provides a
relaxed and open area large enough to display hundreds of guitars while still
providing separate areas for as many as a dozen different players to try out
instruments without stepping on each other’s toes.

The Electric Guitar and
Amplifier Departments take up the largest part of Guitar Showcase’s
lower floor.With the most sought-after iconic brands like
Gibson, Fender, Gretsch, Rickenbacker, Ibanez, PRS, and others, the selection
is deep and wide with Les Pauls and Strats as far as the eye can see. Our
famous “Lefty Land”is a separate area dedicated to those in their “right
minds”. The famous Vintage Vault has over 300 Vintage, Collectible and
rare Guitars and Amps, while hanging from the ceiling in the Pro Audio room are
several dozen “Blast from the Past” electric Guitars where you will probably find your “first electric guitar” from makers like
Silvertone, Airline, Eko, National, Teisco and many others.

Musicians love used
gear (especially guitars and amps) and accordingly, Guitar Showcase always has
a large number of used treasures in stock from Trade-ins, Consignments, and
Store Buys - a distinct advantage over both on-line competition, and local and chain stores with less
history and smaller loyal long-term customer bases.

Mesa Boogie and Fender
amplifiers fill out much of Guitar Showcase’s Amp Department, but others brands like
Marshall, GK, Roland, Line 6, Blackstar, Vox and Orange are also in stock,
along with a great selection of used, vintage, and boutique amps as well.There’s no shortage of great
amps
at Guitar Showcase to compliment the greatest
guitars on Earth.

Though the name is
GUITAR Showcase, the store also maintains an extensive Accessory Department with all the processors, cables,
stomp boxes and other goodies guitarists need.

We also have small Pro
Audio/Keyboard and Drum Departments, but our emphasis is clearly on guitars,
basses and amps,
pedals and all the accessories.

Guitar Showcase is not
just a guitar store: also located on the premises is Showcase Music Institute
(SMI), where some of the best professional music teachers in the area offer
lessons for beginning to advanced students of many instruments including
guitar, bass, voice, piano, and drums.

The SMI building also
houses a mini-theater / recital and workshop area that seats 50 people for
clinics and student performances as well as the famous SMI Workshops.The lower floor of the SMI building houses a complete Rental
Department for local and touring bands that need to augment their gear for that
big show or impromptu performance as well as our on-line fulfillment center.

In-store events include regular clinics, Road Show events from
most of our major guitar and Amp suppliers and student workshops and recitals. Guitar Showcase also sponsors or participates
in various outside festivals and charitable events in the greater Bay Area.

The typical Guitar
Showcase customer has grown up with the store and works for a Silicon Valley
Tech Company like Apple, Google, E-bay, Oracle, Netflix, etc. and has gone
through various stages of playing music, generally starting with the golden age
of the Bay Area Rock ’n’Roll scene. With 2nd and now 3rd generations of the
same musical families, as well as the new tech workers from around the world,
there’s no shortage of musicians, collectors, and
music aficionados
in Silicon Valley.

Guitar Showcase’s
local market is comprised of the employees and share holders of the World’s largest Hi-Tech Companies like Apple, HP, Google, Facebook,

e-Bay, Oracle, NetApp,and a host of others.Accordingly, the average customer is in the
higher income demographic.This affluence coupled with a rich tradition
of musical heritage gives Guitar Showcase a market for higher end Custom Shop,
collectible, and vintage guitars and amps, while still providing a large
customer base for entry level and intermediate products.

Locatedin the
birthplace of technology (Silicon Valley) at the intersection of San Jose, Los
Gatos, and Campbell, with over 500,000 residents within a 5 mile radius and
median incomes well North of $100K. Guitar Showcase, while being no stranger to
the latest in technical developments, has always maintained a more user-friendly
store atmosphere, with long term employees (most have been with the store
between 10 and 40 years), where customers can count on always seeing a friendly
and familiar face when they visit.Our management team is the envy of the music
retail
industry with over 300 years of cumulative
experience in the music industry, most of it with Guitar Showcase.

There truly is “No Place Like Showcase” .

Our Story

1965: Guitar Showcase was founded in 1965 by Bud Eastman as Eastman Studios - Guitar Showcase in a 3 bedroom home located at the corner of Jewel and Bascom Avenues in San Jose California. He combined guitar (and bass) lessons with a store dedicated to the needs of guitars players and Featured Fender Guitars and Amplifiers, a relationship that is still strong today. It would become a local icon for the musicians in the area.

1968: Bud gets this "wild idea" that folks would like to read a magazine devoted exclusively to Guitar Players! (history proves him correct!) To pursue this new venture, he sells Guitar Showcase to Barry and his brother Gary joins in as a managing partner.

1969: Under Barry and Gary's guidance Guitar Showcase experiences seam busting growth both in sales and lessons. A trailer is added to the back yard to hold all the students and create space for all the new products that are being created to fuel the guitar explosion that was rocking the country, and they promote the “Northern California Folk Rock Festival” featuring Jimi Hendrix and a host of others.

1971: In an astute business move, Barry acquire 3 lots closer to Camden avenue to prepare for future growth.

1974: Guitar Showcase moves to its current location at 3090 S. Bascom Ave, San Jose California. Even though the new store provided over twice as much space as the old shop, it would soon have to double its size. But it was a good start.

1976: Showcase Music Institute (SMI) was born under the stewardship of Jim Bruno and for over 35 years, SMI has provided outstanding music education to thousands of people in the San Francisco Bay Area.

1986: Guitar Showcase doubles the size of the main Store and Jim Bruno builds the new SMI building next door.

1987: Barry's retires from Guitar Showcase to further his missionary work with YWAM, and Gary returns to Guitar Showcase taking full ownership of the store.

2006: 2006 saw the birth of Guitar Showcase's very own T.V. show called, "Makin' Music", filming over 100 episodes in the years since about the music industry from guitar selection to local bands to instrument design and manufacturing processes.

2010: We convert the upstairs showroom into a huge Acoustic Guitar Department, increasing the Acoustic Area by over 500%.

2012:Just completed in Sept. 2012, we converted a former repair shop and warehouse area upstairs to add even more Acoustic Guitar Showroom area making Guitar Showcase the largest Specialty Guitar Store in California.

2013:Guitar Showcase's eBay Store is re-born and we open our on-line fulfillment center in the SMI building.